Genesis 1:1-2:3

Devotion: Psalm 19:1-3

Title: In the beginning

Introduction:
Good morning brothers and sisters, before we begin, let us have a word of prayer…
Today, our message will be focused on the importance of beginnings. Not just any beginning,
but the beginning of everything. Most of us if not all of us know and remember the saying “ang
hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.” And to a
certain degree this is true even in the Christian life. That is why one of the most important
things to consider is the book of genesis, literally meaning “the beginning”. Because if it were
not, then why would it be at the beginning of the bible itself? When we read books, magazines,
anything, we always notice what is at the start of it all. It is important because it is in Genesis
where we first see a glimpse into who God is. Where the world came from, and how it shows us
our purpose in creation. Without these things, where do we hope to go to and what do we
hope to attain? If we do not accept the God that created everything, how can we accept the
God that gave us salvation? So when we look at God’s revealed word, we must look at it wholly,
so that we can see the whole picture God has revealed to us.

Exegetical Idea: We can learn a great deal about the first chapters of genesis, and how we can
relate it to our lives in our time today.

Proposition: Brothers and sisters in the Lord, Let me propose to you that what God has written
in Genesis is still relevant to us in our time today.

Interrogative: What then can we learn from these few verses?

I. What is says about God – Gen.1:1 1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

We cannot hope to finish in one sitting the whole of creation, its scope, its complexity,
and its significance. But the thing about the word of God is that it is powerful, it is alive, even as
it speaks to us today, and it is profound, because even in just one verse, the first verse in the
bible, a lot of things has already been revealed to us. What then can we learn from this
profound verse?

A. God is eternal – Psalm 90:2; Isa 40:28

The verse says in the beginning. The beginning of what? If we analyze the
passage, it means to say our beginning. The beginning of the universe, of creation, even
of time. There was a time in the past when this universe as we know it did not exist.
Before creation, only God existed. This tells us that the universe is not eternal and that
reality consists of more than just the material/natural universe. There is something
outside that transcends this current reality. God was before all things. When we talk
about things, we not only mean physical matter, but that God was also before non-
physical matter such as angels, demons. He was also before things we can’t see such as
ideas and concepts. God was before everything. Everything had its beginning with God.
God had no beginning and he did not create himself. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. God is the only being whose existence is
not contingent on someone/something else. Even if everything was to pass and fade
away, God will still be there, because He is eternal.

B. God is all-powerful – Jeremiah 10:12-13; Psalm 33:6; Heb 11:3

God created. There is nothing we can show in comparison to the power God has
shown in creation. Just the fact that He can create is a feat in itself. But when we look at
the fact of his creation, it shows us all the more just how powerful God is. Now if God
existed before all things, this means that God created the universe out of nothing. There
was no material stuff that all this was created from. God made matter from non-matter.
God created it ex nihilo. God created all of this without the use of pre-existing materials.
The word for create here in Genesis 1:1 is bara. It is found 46 times in the OT. It means
to “create out of nothing or without material substance.” Have you ever seen something
come from nothing? No! You and I are not creators in the strictest sense. We are re-
arrangers. We take the stuff that already exists (that God already created) and re-
arrange it in novel ways but we do not in strictest sense create anything new. Only God
can do that, and only God has that kind of power. Another thing to consider is that he
made majority of creation by his command alone. God did not have a hard time in
creating, he did not even break a sweat. Even at His word everything we see was
created.

C. God is all-knowing – Prov 3:19; Psalm 139:6

There are people who say that everything that there is just happened by chance.
And for me, these are the people that have never taken a good look at their
surroundings. When we look at creation, the world, nature, even outside of earth, the
moon, the stars, when we look at them I don’t think: accident. I think it’s beautiful, it is
with design, it is with order, it is intelligent. When God started creating, He created with
purpose and design for He is all knowing. He started with the habitat and then followed
with the inhabitants. When we take a look at the natural world around us, we see
intelligence embedded in it. And even take the crowning glory of creation, man himself.
How our brain works, our heart that never stops working, our lungs which use oxygen
and convert it to CO2, our eyes, which is a technological marvel, converting light into
vision and color. All of this, all that we see in nature, in the natural world, had its
beginning in the mind of God. We cannot even come close to God’s knowledge. That is
why when God created, He called all of it good.

D. God is the source of life – Isa 42:5; Acts 17:24-26

One thing we can be sure of so far is that God is alive. Why is that? Well, since in
creation there is life, in plants, birds, fish, animals, and even people, and God is the one
who created all of these that have life, it follows that the God who created is life itself.
 He is the author of life, and the giver of life. He is alive. How can something alive come
from something that is not? It just does not make any justifiable sense. This is the belief
of the many enemies of the Word of God. That life came from nothing because of
chance. God himself is alive. He is exists. God is the source of all life. Without God,
without His creation, there would be no life, there would be nothing. But without man,
without creation, God would still be the living God.

E. God is sovereign – Psalm 89:11; Job 38:1-7

And this brings us to our last point, if God is the all-powerful and all-knowing
creator and giver of life, to whom we owe our very existence, then it would follow that
God is sovereign over all of creation, and that includes all of us. Even our continuing
existence is still by His sovereign hand and power. We have no right in and of ourselves
because He created us. I mean even in the world we understand and accept what
ownership is and means, right? Since he made everything in creation, He also serves as
ruler over it. Once we get this, once we truly understand the meaning of this, we realize
that we can have no complaint against God. You are merely a creation. Merely created.
The same way on how Job complained to God about his predicament, and God
answered Him in a form of a question as well. God doesn’t owe us anything, once we
get that, all the more you can appreciate on how God has revealed Himself to us, and is
personally involved in our lives.

Application:
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, what does this all mean for us? This all just means that
the God who is, the one true God who revealed himself to us, is truly the all-powerful, all-
knowing, and sovereign God. He is the God who created everything including us, and He is the
God who can also by His power give us life. We believe because creation itself testifies about
Him. Since He is the true God, ought we not give Him the honor and worship He deserves? Are
we to worship the earth? The sun or moon? Are we to worship idols made by human hands,
idols that do not have life?

II. What it says about man

One thing we have learned so far is that man was created by God. We are all just
created beings. All that we are is because of the God that has designed us and created us. God
called all of creation good, even man. What then does creation say about man?

A. Man was created in God’s image – Gen 1:26-27; Psalm 8:5-6

When God created man, meaning of course both male and female, (man being
the technical term for humanity) the bible says that it was in the image of God. What
does this mean? It means that we were made in the likeness of God, likeness not
physically, for God is spirit. He does not have a physical body, but likeness in His
attributes: such as feelings and emotions, our free will, our ability to think, our
capability to distinguish right from wrong (morality), and our capability to relate to
other people. That was the image God bestowed upon us. We all are equal because God
created us equally, though not identically. See the design of God that He made us all
 unique, with our own personality and quirks. This image of God in you and in me is what
makes us important, because all of us bear the signature of the all-powerful God.

B. Man was created and given a purpose by God – Gen 1:26; Rom 12:1-2
When God created man, He also gave Him a purpose. Even before the fall, even
before sin, man already had work, which was given by God. And this is the truth which
we can follow: it is God who gives us purpose because He is the one who designed us
and made us. Many people try to find purpose in life in other things. They think their
purpose is to just work and eat and enjoy, others find it in material things, while some
find it in pleasure. Although they “give” their life purpose, it is not the true purpose that
God has given, so they end up disappointed and unsatisfied. Only in God, only in our
creator we have purpose, and apart from Him we are nothing. And without purpose,
what then is life?

III. The problem

The reason why in our time today there is so much evil and corruption, so much
distortion is because of man’s own doing. Even what God had created has now come to a point
of distortion, earth is experiencing turmoil and destruction, bought about by the carelessness of
man. What then is the problem?

A. Man failed to obey and sinned – Rom 5:12; Rev 21:8

So far, in the creation story of man, it is still good. Everything that God made was
good, including us. So then what happened? Well, even though God made earth the
dwelling place of man, even though He gave man work and purpose in life, even though
man and God had perfect fellowship, man still failed. This is where sin comes in the
story. In simple terms, what does sin mean? It means missing the mark, transgression of
the law, rebellion against God. When Adam sinned, he did so because of his direct
disobedience to what God has said. Adam knew of the command of God, he knew of the
punishment, but still, he chose to disobey God. And because of this, sin entered the
world, and slowly but surely distorted the world and humanity. Remember that even in
the time of Abraham and Noah, the sinfulness of man was already at its peak. That is
why sin, the sin that we have inherited only repeats itself. And because of this sin, we
were subject to death: eternal punishment.

B. Man is without excuse – Rom 1:18-23

So where does this leave us then? Now that we know our condition, now that we
know that we are all sinners, because of our own nature, and because of our own
choices, what does it mean? It just tells us that we are all subject to God’s rule, and we
are subject to His power. In relating this to creation, it must be now known that man,
encompassing all human beings, are without any excuse before God. Creation itself
testifies about God, revealing the all-powerful and all-knowing creator of the heavens
and earth. But many still choose to believe their own foolish desires. And that is the
condition of many in the world today. They disregard God, some worship idols, some
worship material things, many even worship themselves. Remember that what can be
 known about God is already made plain to them, this is short of saying that even a little
kid could understand it. But many still reject God. And their end is still destruction.

Application:
But the good thing is, there is hope. Hope that also came from God. God in His infinite
wisdom and power, also had love and mercy for us, for those He created in His image. The hope
is already given, and has already been made known to us, that Jesus Christ, the living God,
became man, gave His life to die on the cross, for our sake. For our sins, he sacrificed himself.
The hope we have is that there is still a way to get back to our right relationship with God, and
to have fellowship with Him as well. And that is only through putting our faith in Jesus Christ, as
Lord and savior. That is how much God values us.

Conclusion: Rom 5:18-21

For my conclusion, when we look at creation, when we look at how God has made
everything, it all points us to the living God who made us and gave us purpose. Believing that
God is creator is important to our faith and belief. Because if he is powerful and sovereign to
create everything, I believe that He is also powerful and sovereign to save us from our sins. God
has already made himself known through His works and ultimately, in sending His son Jesus
Christ to die for our sins.